Eco-social paradigm
The eco-social paradigm is a theoretical approach developed by Wolf Rainer Wendt in the science of social work .
Historical background
The eco-social theory of social work is derived from ecology as a doctrine of the household of nature (according to E. Haeckel) and from Aristotelian economics , which defines the house as an internal (private) space for securing existence and also of (public) political existence Represents people. Social work is dedicated to this understanding of the emergencies and problems of people (groups) that are critical for the cohesion and well-being of the community, which they cannot cope with on their own.
Wendt has linked the eco-social approach with social economics. He thus follows a line of tradition from the early days of professional social work. Edward T. Devine justified their task in terms of socio-economic and ecological considerations:
"Social economics may be described as community housekeeping. Social work, to follow the analogy, is its salvage and repair service. "
The ecological approach was later modified in the USA by Carel B. Germain and Alex gridman in their life model of social work practice.
Theoretical approach
Central category in the eco-social paradigm is the household as a form of coexistence of people and the care (care) for welfare in this together. The theory traces the need for social help and support back to the dependency in which the people in a household (from Greek oikos, house) depend on each other. They organize their supply with their own resources and available means. Household in this theoretical approach is synonymous with economic activity in the old sense of meeting the needs of household members. In modern society, care is becoming a social task and work that is performed in special institutions and services. The community of solidarity in the larger budgets of the municipality and the state provides the necessary funds.
Key concepts
According to Wendt, the eco-social paradigm includes a number of basic assumptions or key concepts, including:
- humane lifestyle as a task,
- Resource orientation,
- Membership in the community,
- Worries in solidarity,
- Households as a social economy,
- Obligation to provide services of general interest,
- Offer opportunities for realization,
- social networking.
For the actors Wendt has the figure of the eco-social reasoning host introduced, whose task it is socially for wirtliche to ensure conditions. In the topos of the economic, the socially acceptable intersect with the economically acceptable and the ecologically sustainable.
literature
- Wendt, Wolf Rainer: Ecology and social work. Enke, Stuttgart 1982.
- Wendt, Wolf Rainer: Thinking and acting in an eco-social way. Lambertus, Freiburg 1990.
- Wendt, Wolf Rainer: The eco-social principle. Lambertus, Freiburg 2010.
- Wendt, Wolf Rainer: Acting economically in social work. The eco-social theory in revision . Opladen 2018
Individual evidence
- ^ Edward T. Devine: Social Work. Macmillan, New York 1922, p. 1.
- ↑ Carel B. Germain, Alex gridman: practical social work. The “life model” of social work. 3rd edition, Enke, Stuttgart 1999.
- ↑ Wendt, Das Ökosoziale Prinzip, Freiburg 2010, p. 11 ff.
- ↑ Wendt, Acting economically in social work . Opladen 2018. p. 78 ff.